Legal tech localization – why it matters and how to do it right

#localization

In this day and age, it can be safely said that any company can become an international success story – if the right amount of work and strategy is applied. We've seen plenty of examples. Netflix, Airbnb, Printful, Asos, you name it. When you look at all of these flourishing companies, there's one aspect that unites them all – at some part of their business journey, they opted for localization. 

We live in the age of globalization and technological advancement, which gives many businesses the opportunity to reach wide audiences and become successful both on the home ground and abroad. Localization gives these companies, which often start small, competitive advantage and the opportunity to grow in new markets. 

There are several industries that need good localization. But truth be told, if your goal is to go global and reach full business potential in the foreign markets, plenty of industries will reap the benefits of localization, including legal tech. 

What is legal tech localization – and why do you need it?

Legal tech can include a variety of products and services. In most cases, the term refers to technology and software that provide legal services and support the legal industry. This can include legal tech startups, legal translation agencies, and tools that help sole practitioners, law firms, and businesses with services like:

  • Contract management

  • Compliance and data protection

  • Legal management

  • Electronic signature and verification, and others.

Localization is crucial no matter your niche or industry, as it helps adjust the solution, product, or service you've built for one target market to make it more available to other audiences.

But when it comes to legal tech, localization is especially important. For one, it all comes down to building trust. Customer relations are paramount to any business, but they play a vital role in the legal services industry where trust is at the heart of every transaction. For example, no one wants to worry about data handling and other security issues, and this issue can cause some consumers to avoid new legal tech startups if they can't even understand the language this company speaks.

Legal tech can also be quite a complex industry with a specific terminology to understand in a foreign language, not to mention the legislation in different countries. To avoid confusion, transcreation and localization are a must if you want your audience to understand your message and offered solutions.

So what can legal tech companies do to earn trust and build a loyal customer base? They turn to localization where techniques like legal translation, legal contract localization, judiciary-certified translation, judicial translation, and more are used in the process.

Precisely – a legal tech localization success story

We prefer real-life cases when explaining how legal tech localization works. Take Precisely as an example. 

Precisely is a Swedish legal tech company that offers enterprise contract management. They turned complex contract workflows into a secure and easy-to-use platform, setting a new standard for digital contracting. 

The team at Precisely turned to us when they wanted to enter the German market and realized their platform should be made more available to their new German audience through translation and localization. They had started the localization process with another company, but weren't happy with the results. 

When Precisely approached us, the deadline was closing in fast, but we set out to complete the challenge anyway. There were several important steps along the way that helped us succeed.

First, we started with creating a custom localization workflow for Precisely. All tasks were coordinated in a highly organized manner, and our team was often in direct contact with the people at Precisely so that every little detail would be covered. 

The key to localizing the Precisely platform successfully was handpicking the right team of specialists. In legal tech localization, linguists have to be knowledgeable in both complex legal matters and technology. There is no room for interpretation, so not only do translators need to know the right terminology, but they also need to be up-to-date with the legislation and regulations for the target market. 

Before getting started, the team went through onboarding with a product demo. If you know the project inside and out before getting started, fewer questions and clarifications are needed along the localization process. 

Finally, we opted for in-context editing, which means translating a website while looking at it and seeing the changes in real time. Using the Phrase in-context editor, our editors could make changes right on the spot. As a result, we could save time by minimizing errors, and the client saved on costs.

The result? Precisely is now fully localized in German, and yes, it was accomplished on time. We worked with Precisely on localizing their platform into other languages. The platform is now available in Danish, Dutch, Estonian, Finnish, French, Polish, not to mention English and the Precisely team's native Swedish.

Get started

Localization is an important part of your company's journey – and if you plan for your business to go global, the best time to start localization is now.

If you're looking for a customized approach and the best words for your legal tech solution, you'll find top legal language translators here at Language Inspired. Get in touch for a customized localization solution or get an instant quote right away.

On the 19.04.2023. SIA “Language Inspired” has signed an agreement Nr. SKV-L2023/208 with Investment and Development Agency of Latvia (LIAA) within the project “International competitiveness promotion”, which is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund.

The first step on your road to global growth is at your fingertips. One click, and we are here to help.